My First Blythe Doll – Raspberry Sorbet

After months of online browsing and deliberating, I finally took the plunge and bought my first Blythe doll, Raspberry Sorbet!

Blythe dolls were originally made in 1972 by Kenner Toys, who later made Strawberry Shortcake, Rose Petal Place, and lots of other fun toys. The dolls had a pull string on the back of their heads that would change their eye color when pulled.

Unfortunately, the dolls weren’t a big hit and disappeared until a Japanese toy company, Takara, began producing them in 2001. Now they’re popular with adult collectors and a new doll comes out each month. Each doll has a name and a different look and style.

A lot of Blythe’s popularity is due to the ability to customize her by changing her wig, eye colors, and even facial features and makeup with some brave carving and art skills. I had no intention to customize mine (yet!) so I wanted one with fairly basic hair and eye colors.

I settled on Raspberry Sorbet, a release from February 2011. She has long brown hair with bangs, and light pink lipcolor and blush. Her stock outfit includes a fuzzy white winter hat, a dusty rose pea coat with gold buttons, a champagne silk shirt with a big bow at the neck, black and gray tweed shorts, fishnet stockings, and black boots with heels.

Her fingernails are a pretty shade of light pink, which matches her coat.

She comes with a pink doll stand for display.

The pull string to change her eyes is very basic, just a pale pink loop.

Her out-of-box hair had a greasy film on it, so this photo was taken after it was shampooed and conditioned. Although washing it helped a little, it’s still kind of stringy.